FORT MYERS, Fla. – Chelsea Lyles scored 19 points and grabbed 7 rebounds to lead the Eagles to a 64-56 victory over Jacksonville University.
The Eagles got off to a strong start, opening the game on a 12-2 run. But the Dolphins would respond, and very quickly. With the score 12-2, the Dolphins scored the next 11 straight points to take a 13-12 lead. Finally, a Kelsey Jacobson 3-pointer ended the JU run, giving the Eagles a 15-13 lead with 11:33 left in the half. The teams traded the lead back and forth a couple times over the next seven minutes, until a Chelsea Lyles layup gave FGCU a 26-25 lead with 4:37 left. Two Adrianne McNally free throws and another layup from Lyles made it a 30-25 lead with just under two minutes left. A layup from JU's Virginia Gregoire cut the lead to 30-27 with 1:05 left, which was the score going into halftime.
Jacksonville came out of the locker room and immediately regained the lead, scoring the first six points of the half to take a 33-30 lead. The Eagles bounced back with a 13-3 run of their own, taking a 43-36 lead with 11:25 left in the game. FGCU would hold the lead until a Virginia Gregoire 3-pointer gave the lead back to the Dolphins, 46-44, with 8:24 remaining. The Eagles' Emma Beddome scored a conventional 3-point play to quickly grab the lead back, but Regina Omoite's 3-pointer gave JU a 49-47 lead. Adrianne McNally scored a conventional 3-point play to regain the lead once more, and this time the Eagles would hold the lead for just over a minute. Jacksonville would battle back to regain the lead one more time, this time on a layup from Crystal Grable, to take a 53-52 lead with 5:19 to go. On the next possession, Kelsey Jacobson knocked down a three to take the lead back for FGCU, and they would not relinquish it. Virginia Gregoire's three pulled JU to within a point with 3:21 left, 57-56. But the Eagles defense shut down the Dolphins down the stretch, and FGCU closed out the game on a 7-0 run to claim the victory, 64-56.
For the Dolphins (10-8, 6-3), Virginia Gregoire had a game-high 23 points on 9-17 shooting. DaVina Hamilton scored 10 points, pulled down 6 boards, and also dished out 4 assists. Lynsey Paschal scored 6 points and pulled down a game-high 9 rebounds.
For the Eagles (13-4, 6-3), Chelsea Lyles scored a team-high 19 points, pulled down a team-high 7 boards, and also grabbed a team-high 3 steals. Kelsey Jacobson added 11 points on 3-5 shooting. Adrianne McNally scored 11 points and handed out a game-high 5 assists.
The Eagles will continue this 5-game homestand on Saturday night as they will host North Florida at 7:00 PM. The homestand will continue on Monday night as the Eagles will host Stetson at 7:00PM.
